Windows single-file mailbox rewrite can remove the mailbox when the fallback rename fails

[lpyu001]

Bug report

Bug description

Summary

On Windows, _singlefileMailbox.flush() cannot rename a temporary rewrite over an existing mailbox with os.rename(). Its FileExistsError fallback deletes the original mailbox and then performs a second rename. If that second filesystem operation fails, the mailbox pathname has already been removed.

The affected mailbox classes are mailbox.mbox, mailbox.MMDF, and mailbox.Babyl. The temporary replacement normally remains, so the contents are not necessarily irretrievable, but the original mailbox pathname is missing. This is a Windows-specific failure path because it depends on Windows os.rename() refusing to replace an existing destination.

Reproduction Code

import errno
import glob
import mailbox
import os
import tempfile
from unittest.mock import patch

with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as directory:
    path = os.path.join(directory, "mailbox")
    box = mailbox.mbox(path)
    first = box.add(b"Subject: first\n\nfirst\n")
    box.add(b"Subject: second\n\nsecond\n")
    box.flush()
    box.remove(first)

    # Simulate Windows rejecting the first replacement attempt, followed by
    # an I/O failure while the fallback performs its second rename.
    with patch(
        "mailbox.os.rename",
        side_effect=[
            FileExistsError(errno.EEXIST, "target exists"),
            OSError(errno.EIO, "injected second rename failure"),
        ],
    ):
        try:
            box.flush()
        except OSError as error:
            print("flush:", type(error).__name__, error.errno)

    print("mailbox exists:", os.path.exists(path))
    print(
        "temporary files:",
        [os.path.basename(name) for name in glob.glob(path + ".*")],
    )

Observed on a Windows CPython build:

flush: OSError 5
mailbox exists: False
temporary files: ['mailbox.1788174401.yuu.26684']

Actual Behavior

After the first os.rename() raises FileExistsError, flush() removes the existing mailbox pathname. If the second os.rename() then fails, the exception propagates after the original mailbox has already been removed.

The rewritten temporary file normally remains, but the mailbox is no longer available at its original pathname.

Expected Behavior

If replacement of the rewritten mailbox fails, the original mailbox pathname should remain intact. Replacing an existing mailbox should not require explicitly removing the destination before installing the rewritten file.

CPython versions tested on

CPython main branch

Operating systems tested on

Windows

Linked PRs

• gh-156699: Preserve single-file mailboxes when replacement fails #156700